Varnish on top of giclée prints on kozo paper

[bergholt]

Clever people,


I'm considering experimenting with a layer or perhaps several layers of varnish on top of a giclée print on Japanese kozo paper for this series.

I've tried with raw linseed oil and tonkin varnish, which didn't work out well, it blurs the colours and adds a unwanted yellow shine.

So I thought about either an oil based or water based varnish that can be sprayed on in order to seal the surface and the add additional layers on top of that.

Have anyone here tried something similar or related?

Do you normally treat prints with something else to protect from the effect of UV light, etc.?


Thanks in advance!

[mearussi]

Don't use a water based varnish directly on delicate paper because the paper will absorb the water and warp.
If you're wanting a thick coating to protect the print then apply a solvent varnish first to seal the paper then apply a thicker water based varnish on top of that.

[bergholt]

Don't use a water based varnish directly on delicate paper because the paper will absorb the water and warp.
If you're wanting a thick coating to protect the print then apply a solvent varnish first to seal the paper then apply a thicker water based varnish on top of that.

Thank you for the reply That makes a lot of sense.

Would you happen to have any recommendations as to specific products? Various brands turn up wheen googling: Winsor & Newton, Liquitex, Vallejo.

[Tuco]

While searching for the Hanhemule protective spray (which seems to be discontinued) - I noticed Hahnemule has some new "varnishes", but can't give any first hand experience.

[bergholt]

While searching for the Hanhemule protective spray (which seems to be discontinued) - I noticed Hahnemule has some new "varnishes", but can't give any first hand experience.

Thank you for the reply. With their long history, one should think Hahnemühle would be a good choice. However, their new varnishes seem to be water-based, which was adviced against earlier in the thread.

"Hahnemühle Varnish is water-based. It adds richness to the blacks and color gamut of pigment and ultrachrome inks. It also preserves your colors from fading".

But I think I'll give it a try

[mcbroomf]

Take a look at the review by Kang-Wei Hsu, linked in this post;
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=143297.msg1257431#msg1257431

https://reurl.cc/OVGDmr

[bergholt]

Take a look at the review by Kang-Wei Hsu, linked in this post;
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=143297.msg1257431#msg1257431
https://reurl.cc/OVGDmr

Excellent resources, thank you!

[JCD]

I’ve used Premiere Art Uv solvent varnish on Kozo and even fabrics for about 17 years. It’s not waterproof but it does help protect the surface and is for all practical purposes invisible. It is good on William Turner and other vulnerable papers also, especially when you have large max black backgrounds.

John

Excellent resources, thank you!

[mearussi]

Thank you for the reply That makes a lot of sense.

Would you happen to have any recommendations as to specific products? Various brands turn up wheen googling: Winsor & Newton, Liquitex, Vallejo.

Any of the three main spray-on solvent based varnishes (Moab, Hahnemuhle, Premier Art's Print Shield) will work for the first coat and I prefer Premier's Eco Print Shield for the second coat because of it's 15 minute drying time:
https://www.itsupplies.com/premier-art-canvas-top-coating-giclee-varnish

[bergholt]

I’ve used Premiere Art Uv solvent varnish on Kozo and even fabrics for about 17 years. It’s not waterproof but it does help protect the surface and is for all practical purposes invisible. It is good on William Turner and other vulnerable papers also, especially when you have large max black backgrounds.
John

Thank you - it was exactly feedback like this I was looking for

[bergholt]

Any of the three main spray-on solvent based varnishes (Moab, Hahnemuhle, Premier Art's Print Shield) will work for the first coat and I prefer Premier's Eco Print Shield for the second coat because of it's 15 minute drying time:
https://www.itsupplies.com/premier-art-canvas-top-coating-giclee-varnish

Thank you

[JCD]

Doesn’t Eco Print Shield completely change the surface of washi papers and silk fabrics, like other canvas varnishes do? I have never used it. But Timeless makes them look plastic.

John


quote author=bergholt link=topic=143837.msg1260613#msg1260613 date=1723454016]
Thank you
[/quote]

[MfAlab]

When applying on fine art papers, use solvent based fixatives. Water based varnishes are mainly used on inkjet canvas. It will make your substrates look plastic.

[JCD]

Right, Eco Printshield is water  based .

It would be Really Really cool to have a water based varnish that would give total protection to fine papers the way it does canvas without changing the surface. Everyone is sick of either buying reflective plexi in framing or outrageously expensive museum glass.

We’ve been trying all kinds of film laminates, some conforming to PAT
Archival standards and they all look like plastic which is ok for rc prints, not fine fiber surfaces. Premiere Art solvent is nowhere robust enough to protect from pollutants or surface scratching when framing. I wonder if anyone is even working on improving those sprays?

John

When applying on fine art papers, use solvent based fixatives. Water based varnishes are mainly used on inkjet canvas. It will make your substrates look plastic.

[bergholt]

When applying on fine art papers, use solvent based fixatives. Water based varnishes are mainly used on inkjet canvas. It will make your substrates look plastic.

Thank you

Any preferences as to whether the varnish is based on alcohol, turpentine or petroleum?

[MfAlab]

Right, Eco Printshield is water  based .

It would be Really Really cool to have a water based varnish that would give total protection to fine papers the way it does canvas without changing the surface. Everyone is sick of either buying reflective plexi in framing or outrageously expensive museum glass.

We’ve been trying all kinds of film laminates, some conforming to PAT
Archival standards and they all look like plastic which is ok for rc prints, not fine fiber surfaces. Premiere Art solvent is nowhere robust enough to protect from pollutants or surface scratching when framing. I wonder if anyone is even working on improving those sprays?

John

I will say that is nearly impossible. Fixatives have low solid(resin) contains, work on papers as a pigment particles fixer. Varnishes contain rich resin, they form into a thin film on the top of the substrate and seal it. That's why it looks like plastic. You can find many solvent vanishes with rich resin, they will cover the substrate with a plastic-like top film too. But low solid, less resin means low protection, no matter it is water-based or solvent-based. It's not about the solvent, but solutes.

[MfAlab]

Thank you

Any preferences as to whether the varnish is based on alcohol, turpentine or petroleum?

Many fixatives use dimethyl ether, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol as main solvents. I only know so much.

[philh2o]

This may be way out of left field for what you’re looking for but I’ve been experimenting with cold wax and encaustic applications this summer with varying results depending on the surfaces. Cold wax has been used historically as an art surface protectant but for me a hand-buffed encaustic application has been most satisfying on matte coated surfaces. Good luck!

[JCD]

You might want to Google Renaissance Wax. There are a lot of comments about using it on prints online.

I would reserve it for small prints. Buffing the wax on big work would drive you nuts.

People used to use it on silver prints a lot. For inkjet I would spray first with premiere art.

John


quote author=philh2o link=topic=143837.msg1260772#msg1260772 date=1724763838]
This may be way out of left field for what you’re looking for but I’ve been experimenting with cold wax and encaustic applications this summer with varying results depending on the surfaces. Cold wax has been used historically as an art surface protectant but for me a hand-buffed encaustic application has been most satisfying on matte coated surfaces. Good luck!
[/quote]